Natalia’s P. O. V

The Werewolf who rejected me, who stood by as I was demeaned and abused, who had been born into greatness within their ranks while I was seen as nothing more than an anthill to kick on their path…

Callum stood before me, doing his best to contain the tremors of his outstretched hand, as he looked at me like I was an apparition with those stupid brown eyes of his.

From Kirstin’s reports, he’d been demoted in every way but his title. Cheating on Brittany had garnered him not only her ire, but also that of Harry and anyone who would listen to them, hypocritical as it was. But to the wider Werewolf world, he was still the next Beta of the Lightwood Pack.

‘Nat…’ Candy said in a small voice, not daring to ask what she already knew the answer to. Whatever she still felt for him was dead in me and she knew it.

I let my eyes run down him, then back up to his apprehensive face with a not-at-all-forced look of disdain on my own. If anything, I had to work to make my distaste look light and vaguely dismissive, as opposed to advertising my hatred on my face for all to see.

“I’ll have to decline.” I said, then turned away, making my way straight for the Sunshine duo, who had taken a break from spinning around the dance floor and had stationed themselves across the room from Brittany, who was fuming to Harry. I picked up a champagne flute, swirling it in my fingers as I listened in.

“Who does she think she is, rejecting a Beta just cause she’s an Alpha?” She fumed in whispers.

“I bet I could’ve gotten her to dance with me.” Harry threw a drink back and gave her a look, “And I don’t think you should speak like that about another Alpha.”

The unspoken ‘not here’ passed between them and she rolled her eyes but seemed to get the message from her switching topics.

“Callum suddenly started begging for us to let him dance with her. I thought you would be a better choice to do it, but your Luna was against it.”

She must have added something else in their mind link, because Harry suddenly whipped his head to her, his glare severe, while she shot back a smug look. Kylie, who stood next to him, shrank back, almost hiding behind him from Brittany’s gaze.

I smiled into my glass.

“This discussion is over. I’ll handle it, you go dance with your mate.” He finally said out loud, after several seconds of intense looks and unspoken words.

“Fine.” She shot back, then spun on her heel to join Callum in a dance.

‘Looks like there’s trouble in hell.’ I told Timothy and Hailey through the connection Kaesha had set up for the three of us before we left.

Timothy replied, ‘That means Kirstin was right.’

‘What did he mean by he’ll handle it?’ Hailey asked, her curiosity painted on her face.

I glanced at Harry over the top of my glass, finding him staring at me, ‘If I’m correct, it means we’ve got their full attention.’

I scanned the ballroom for which of my pack members was unoccupied. Through our pack mind link, I called to Daniella, ‘I’m going to need you to leave the ballroom right after I do and go to the quiet room we were shown. If the window isn’t open, I need you to pretend you’re hot from all the dancing and open it. Make sure it stays open till I leave the balcony nearby.’

‘Yes, Alpha.’

I placed my untouched glass on the tray of one of the passing servants, “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go get some fresh air.”

I left the ballroom, weaving between bodies and avoiding the ones who were still hoping for a dance with me. Down the hall, there was a smaller, quieter room for people who wanted to get away and talk with a balcony near it. I stepped out on the ledge, closing the balcony doors behind me.

The balcony looked out onto the gardens, and beyond them were the palace walls, with the forest stretching beyond the horizon. In the soft crescent moon’s light, it was a sight to behold. I heard the click of the quiet room’s window opening just as the balcony doors did.

“Mind some company?”

I gestured to the space beside me and Harry walked over, joining me to lean over the marble railing.

“It’s a beautiful view…” He stated, leaving room for me to concur.

It was, undeniably so. But even if he’d said the sky was blue, I’d sooner open my mouth to retort that it was red than agree with him.

I settled for a nod.

He shifted on his feet, “It’s not nearly as beautiful as you are. You turned every head in the ballroom.”

I kept my gaze on the view. The bile in the back of my throat threatened to jump out of my mouth if I so much as spared him a glance. My will battled my body’s instincts to purge myself of both the contents of my stomach and the heat rolling under my skin.

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“Really? I hardly noticed.”

He moved closer and I suppressed the shudder that ran through me, “You know, I feel like we’ve met somewhere before.”

Finally, I looked at him with the same vaguely dismissive expression I’d kept with Callum, “I’m sure we haven’t. Can I ask you why you followed me out here?”

He blinked at my expression, only speaking when he’d recovered his thoughts, “I heard you’re the Alpha of a new pack. I’m an Alpha myself so I know being in charge must be hard. I wanted to offer your pack the chance to ally yourselves with mine.”

I cocked my head, “And what’s your pack’s name?”

“The Lightwood Pack.” He looked smug, puffing his chest at the chance to mention his affiliation.

I gave him a blank stare before fritting my eyes about as I feigned trying to remember if I’d recalled the name that had been branded on the deepest, darkest parts of my soul for as long as I could remember.

“I don’t think I’ve heard of you.”

“Well, we’re not the biggest or anything, but we’ve got a lot going for us and have a lot of members. It’s great there- if you weren’t an Alpha of your own pack I would have invited you cause you’d fit right in…”

What?

He rambled on but I barely heard him over the sound of my blood rushing in my ears. My head was hot, his words ringing like a slap across the face.

I’d fit in?

With them?

He didn’t even realize the look on my face as I was fully glaring at him, pulling on his collar as beads of sweat gathered on his skin.

Skin that I wanted to char.

My hands twitching drew my attention, and I looked down to see them on fire. I moved them behind me, watching him drone on while I willed the fire away. Taking deep breaths was out of the question due to his scent churning my stomach.

I needed to get it together.

“Anyway, I’m sure you’ll gain a lot from our help. Just send us an alliance request and I’ll personally make sure it’s accepted.” He finished, waiting for me to thank him.

“I’ll think about it.” My reply was curt, then I turned away with a withering look, “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to join the ball, or are you going to follow me back too?”

He was quiet, gaping at me with the eyes of a man with a bruised ego.

Taking his silence as my answer, I left him on the balcony. As I got further away, I heard him use some choice words to describe what he thought of me and my attitude, and wonder why he was so hot anyway.

When I returned to the ballroom, slipping in through a far less conspicuous door, Timothy and Hailey were swept up in a dance, enthralled by each other as they held one another like lifelines. Only upon seeing her beaming smile did I feel some of the tension leave my body.

The day she accepted Timothy as her mate and broke up with Kaelin over the phone, she’d been beside herself with guilt. She’d padded up to my room and poured her heart out to me about how he’d been nothing but the perfect boyfriend to her, and how she thought breaking up with him over a call was far less than he deserved. Through her lamentations, my curiosity had gotten the better of me.

“If he’s as perfect as you say,” I’d asked, bringing my legs up so I was sitting cross-legged on my bed beside her lying form, “Why dump him for Timothy when things were going so well.?”

“Cause Tim is my mate.”

I’d shrugged, “Yeah, but why does that matter? Kaelin was the one you spent all that time building a bond with, so why are you choosing Timothy after everything that’s happened between you two?”

She’d been silent for a while, finding the words. When she eventually spoke, she looked enviably peaceful, with a smile to her lips as she talked, “He feels like home… I don’t know the exact science of mates and all that, but being with him feels like coming back from a long, journey and finding warm food and a loving hug. I think I always knew that we were going to come back together, but he was scared, and that made me scared to trust him. But now that we’re together, it feels like everything is how it’s meant to be.”

I’d watched her curiously as she’d traipsed off into whatever flowery thoughts were skipping around her head. When she noticed me staring, she gave a little laugh.

“It’s not like I think we’re going to live happily ever after and never have any issues for the rest of our lives,” She’d smiled at me, looking so serene that I’d almost wondered what it would be like to feel so much peace that it radiated from you, “but I just have the conviction that no matter what we face, we’ll be okay as long as we face it together.”

Looking at them as they painted the dance floor with their movements, he looked every bit as in love as she was. Hailey, in her excitement for the ball, had taken dance classes before we’d left New York. With that knowledge, he’d undergone secret lessons with Kaesha on how to properly dance so he could be a good partner for her. And that he was, managing to lead her in the proper steps but also letting her shine with big twirls, dips and spins that left her giggling and grinning from ear to ear any time she locked eyes with him.

My hand went up to my cheek, the one the dark-haired stranger had grazed before pulling a Houdini and vanishing into thin air.

‘Nat…’ Candy called once I was comfortably tucked into one of the corners of the room, ‘Why don’t we just try talking to him…?’

My eyes darted to the object of her request. Brittany was gripping his arm, glaring at him while spewing a barrage of insults into his head through their mind link. His nose had led his eyes to where I was and he was watching me, paying her little mind, which only served to piss her off more.

I took my eyes off him, ‘What would you like to chat about, Candy? About the time he helped them break my ribs? Or when Brittany wanted to try being an artist and he held me down so she could draw on my back with a dull knife? Oh, maybe about the time he rejected us and kicked me in the ribs for good measure?’

The stem of the flue in my hand felt soft so I set it down, moments before it fully melted and spilt the drink. A servant fluttered through to clean the spilt drink up, puzzled at the state of the glass but ultimately saying nothing as he darted away.

‘You and Kirstin are so sure that he’s an innocent little thing whose only crime is cowardice, that he wasn’t nearly as bad as the others. For some reason, you don’t think he deserves to be punished, but what about me, huh? What did I do to deserve anything they did to me?’

Silence. Pitiful, shameful silence.

‘Well? Answer me!’

‘Nothing, Nat… You did nothing wrong.’

My gaze found Hailey and Timothy again, spinning around in their own little world without a single care. Then I looked back at Callum, still under fire from Brittany while he pined away at me.

‘He rejected us, Candy. We’re not getting that happily ever after that you want with him. Our story doesn’t end on a bed of roses, it ends in a pool of blood. And he’s part of the reason why.’